PORTLAND (AP) - The Oregon National Guard's storied 41st Brigade is running into a resurgent Taliban and more of the knocks on the door that nobody wants.

The brigade is deeply entrenched in Oregon, tracing its roots to the Sunset Division formed during World War I. It is one of 15 “enhanced” brigades nationwide that maintain a higher standard of readiness.

In Afghanistan, the brigade has been training Afghanistan's first-ever national army. Death rates there are now the highest for U.S. and coalition soldiers since 2001.

In Kabul, a car bomb on Friday killed Staff Sgt. Robert J. Paul, an Army reservist from The Dalles. On Saturday, a Taliban ambush killed Sgt. Nathaniel “Brad” Lindsey, a Troutdale gunner and a member of the 41st.

The number of roadside bombs, the scourge of American forces in Iraq, is up sharply, Maj. Arnold Strong, spokesman for the 41st Brigade, said from Kabul.

“Soldiers have been in dozens of engagements with the enemy since our arrival,” Strong wrote in an e-mail, The Oregonian newspaper reported. He described the Afghan soldiers as “fierce combatants.”

In Afghanistan, more than 150 U.S. and coalition soldiers have died since January, and a growing Taliban suggests more trouble. By contrast, U.S. deaths in Iraq are half of what they were in the peak month of November 2004.

“The race at the moment is between hope and despair,” said Teresita Schaffer, a former U.S. ambassador to Sri Lanka who has written frequently on the Afghan reconstruction.

“It is not correct to say everything is going to hell,” she told The Oregonian. “But security is worse than it has been in the last year, and I don't like the trend. It is increasingly dangerous.”

The Oregon 41st has more than 900 soldiers in Afghanistan and commands nearly 5,000 troops from 42 states and 11 nations.

“Hindsight is always 20-20, but perhaps we would've been better off to send the whole group early on. Then we would've been out of the fray” before fighting increased, said Brig. Gen. Mike Caldwell, deputy director of the Oregon Guard's state affairs.

While some Oregonians train Afghan troops and officers, others live in remote camps in harsh conditions with Afghan platoons.

“The Afghans are starting to rise to the occasion and are developing a good bit of confidence,” Caldwell said.

But he admits that rising violence has the leadership worried.

“You know there's always a chance of someone getting killed. It's gut-wrenching. You see two kids killed here, another kid killed there, and you can't help but hope and pray that it's not one of your guys. ... Someone else in charge of another unit is saying they hope and pray it's not their guys.”